The distribution of digital content to wireless devices promises new business opportunities for network operators and content providers, although the susceptibility of digital content to unauthorized copying and/or distribution remains an impediment to growth in these and other digital content distribution environments.
The mobile wireless communications industry has recognized that Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology may enable the secure distribution of content to, and the controlled consumption thereof, on wireless communications devices. The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), which is a wireless communications industry standardization body, has for example developed DRM standards that generally provide the mechanisms required to package content. The OMA standards also provide for the assignment of permissions and constraints (“rights objects”) to content, and the delivery of content and associated rights objects to DRM enabled wireless communications terminals. The OMA DRM solution is independent of the transport and content delivery mechanism and is suitable for push and pull/download applications, Multimedia Messaging Services (MMSs), and streaming applications, among others.
One characteristic of the OMA DRM solution and possibly other DRM technologies is the ability for users to directly send protected content to others by a process referred to as “superdistribution.” When a second user, the recipient, receives the protected content, the recipient must contact a content provider to obtain permission, for example, a rights object, to use the protected content. The superdistribution of content by subscriber terminals is an effective and inexpensive way for content providers to proliferate content.
The various aspects, features and advantages of the disclosure will become more fully apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon careful consideration of the following Detailed Description thereof with the accompanying drawings described below.